Category Archives: Movies

There’s nothing better than watching a movie with a great plot twists — and M. Night Shyamalan is the O. Henry in the world of cinema, known for his surprise twist endings. We don’t need to discuss any spoilers to make a compelling case — you know the ones: The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and The Village. Ranker.com asked its reader to rank the best movies with twist endings — not surprisingly M. Night Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense (“I see dead people”) was voted number one. Here is the list:

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Film directors know that although a long movie title stands out in a list as an outlier, it does not necessarily translate to success at the box office. The constraints of marketing material, and the mindset of the average moviegoer, prefer shorter, more memorable movie titles. Besides, the film will be referred to using an abbreviated title anyway. But that hasn’t stopped movie directors from releasing films with really long titles — perhaps, to prove that they can. Here is a list of notable movies with the longest titles:

Night Of The Day Of The Dawn Of The Son Of The Bride Of The Return Of The Revenge Of The Terror Of The Attack Of The Evil, Mutant, Hellbound, Flesh-Eating, Crawling, Alien, Zombified, Subhumanoid Living Dead — Part 5Directed by James Riffel; released in 201141 words; 177 characters

Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 hours 11 minutesDirected by Ken Anakin; released in 196520 words; 85 characters(85)

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of KazakhstanDirected by Sacha Baron Cohen; released in 200612 words; 72 characters

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the BombDirected by Stanley Kubrick; released in 196413 words; 56 characters

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad DayDirected by Migeul Arteta; released in 201410 words; 50 characters

The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a MountainDirected by Christopher Monger; released in 199512 words; 47 characters

When it comes to villains in modern times, there is no character more iconic, more evil than Darth Vader — with his menacing dark helmet, creepy mechanical breathing apparatus hidden behind imposing body armor, flowing black cape that cuts through the air like a knife. And then there is the foreboding Darth Vader theme that follows him wherever he goes (composed by the legendary John Williams): “BOM-bom! Bom bom bom BOM-bom! Bom bom bom BOM bom! Bom bom bom bom…” You get the picture. When you see Darth Vader, you don’t have to be a total Star Wars geek to wonder, what would Darth Vader’s super evil suit cost if you built it in real life? And we’re not talking about those very high-end, detailed costumes that you can buy for Halloween (that can cost as much as $,1000; a movie-quality replica — the Anovos Premier Line Darth Vader costume — can cost as much as $6,000). Thanks to the inquisitive and clever folks at Dailyinfographic.com, wonder no more. The cost of Darth Vader’s suit would cost a cool $18.3 million. That’s quite a bit more than an original Darth Vader costume from “The Empire Strikes Back” that was valued at about $250,000 by Christie’s auction house back in November, 2010.

Here’s the a breakdown of Vader’s black suit of evil:

Helmet: $600,00Similar to the mounted display of the F-35 helmet, it features augmented reality functionality (night vision, navigational capability, and advanced targeting)

Base suit: $12 millionSimilar to a pressurized NASA space suit

Prosthetic legs and left arm: $180,000Spoiler alert: in one of the films, Darth Vader loses some limbs in a battle with Obi Wan Kenobi

In her highly entertaining and information-packed book, Infographic Guide to the Movies, Karen Krizanovich introduces the term “flip flop film,”defined as a movie that was not a big hit at the box office, but over time has been recognized as a cinematic masterpiece, and consequently, thanks to its release in various evolving formats (VHS, laserdisc, and DVD) has become extremely lucrative. For example, the highly acclaimed film Casablanca earned $3.7 million when it was released in 1943, but has earned more than $4.4 million in rentals alone in the U.S. Here are six famous flip-flop films (name of movie, year of release, first release earnings, followed by lifetime earnings):

One of the most popular romantic comedies of all time is When Harry Met Sally… (1989) written by Nora Ephron and directed by Rob Reiner. In 2008, The American Film Institute ranked it as the 6th best romantic comedy of all time. The film, inspired by Reiner’s return to single life after his divorce, revolves around the critical question that Harry Burns (Billy Crystal) asks Sally Albright (Meg Ryan) during a cab ride early in the film: can men and women ever just be friends — platonically, without the benefits? Harry and Sally passionately disagree (Harry doesn’t think so; Sally does). Over the span of many years, the two bump into each other and a friendship gradually grows into a romantic relationship. Outside of the deli scene (with Rob Reiner’s real mother delivering the famous line: “I’ll have what she’s having.”), one of the film’s most memorable scenes is when Harry professes his love to Sally on New Year’s Eve: “I love that you get cold when it’s 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you’re looking at me like I’m nuts. I love that after I spend the day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it’s not because I’m lonely, and it’s not because it’s New Year’s Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.” Hand me the box of tissues…

Romantic comedies like this also beg the larger question: how realistic are romantic comedies? How do they compare with real world relationships? Do people really have Harry-Sally relationships — transitioning from the dreaded “friend zone” to a romantic relationship? The folks at Daily Infographic reviewed surveys and laughed and cried their way through the top 150 romantic comedies to come up with a snap shot of romance, titled: “Hollywood vs. Real Life.” Interestingly, out of all those movies, only one dealt with online dating (You’ve Got Mail, released in 1998; also written by Nora Ephron and starring Meg Ryan ). Here is a look at romance by the numbers — and how unrealistic romantic comedies truly are:

Each year, according to the Motion Picture Association of America, the average number of movies released in the United States is about 600. Of those, only a tiny portion enter the pantheon of the most visually stunning movies — movies that feature a masterful blend of cinematography, art direction, and composition that you could turn the volume off and be mesmerized for its entire running time. One director known for his brilliant, captivating visual style is Tarsem Singh, who seems to paint his films; he has established himself with unforgettable films like The Cell (2000) and The Fall (2006).

The editors of Screen Rant developed this list of 12 movies so visually stunning that you could watch them on mute:
What Dreams May Come (1998)
Skyfall (2012)
The Revenant (2015)
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Life of Pi (2012)
Interstellar (2014)
Gravity (2013)
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
The Fall (2006)
Ex Machina (2015)
Avatar (2009)
Amelie (2001)

A great teacher has little external history to record. His life goes over into other lives. These men are pillars in the intimate structure of our schools. They are more essential than its stones or beams, and they will continue to be a kindling force and a revealing power in our lives.

The tribute on an engraved plaque given to William Hundert, a beloved classics teacher, by his grateful students who are now adults. The scene appears in the film, The Emperor’s Club (2002) written by Neil Tolkin (based on short story The Palace Thief by Ethan Canin) and directed by Michael Hoffman.